I noticed that the drain to the gutters as well as the drain in the back yard is attached to the house drain stack. Is this normal? I am wondering if this will create a problem down the road, especially with all this rain. I don't want to end up getting the basement back up due to alot of water draining from the outside into the house. Isn't this suppose to be tied to the city sewer?
Thanks, just purchashed the house a year ago.

helpless handyman

08-19-2007 06:47 PM

Come on guys, 17 views and no suggestions? Ron where are you?

concretemasonry

08-19-2007 08:01 PM

Outside drainage

How old is the house?

If you are in an older city you could have a combined sewer system that collects both storm water. In almost all areas you cannot make a new hook-up that brings storm water into a sanitary system and in some cases to an existing combined system.

A yard drain into a combined system is unusual, but not umpossible to have.

Can you see the actual hook up to the sanitary system? If buried, it could be possible to have access to a storm sewer on or adjacent to your property.

A proper installed floor drain in your home should not permit a water back-up. A plumbing expert could give you more accurate information and details.

Many of the cites that have combined systems are separating the strom and sanitary, but it can be done economically at the curb line.

In some countries, like India, they even split the sanitary water into true sanitary and gray water (sinks, tubs, washers, etc.) in addition to storm sewers.

troubleseeker

08-19-2007 10:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by helpless handyman
(Post 58270)

Hi everyone,

I noticed that the drain to the gutters as well as the drain in the back yard is attached to the house drain stack. Is this normal? I am wondering if this will create a problem down the road, especially with all this rain. I don't want to end up getting the basement back up due to alot of water draining from the outside into the house. Isn't this suppose to be tied to the city sewer?
Thanks, just purchashed the house a year ago.

It is not normal, or legal in any instances I know of, to drain storm run of into a municipal sewer system. And for good reason. Imagine what will happen to the limited capacity of their tanks, and the required balance of chemicals and micro organisms that make up the treatment process, when a rainstorm suddenly puts an extra million gallons of water into the system.

concretemasonry

08-19-2007 10:49 PM

troubleseeker -

Please not that I asked about the age of the home. In many areas is was common and legal to do this, so it is permitted to continue in most instances.

Many older cities permitted it years ago and usually had "trip boards" to dump excess flow into the rivers where it was diluted somewhat because of the higher storm flow and oxygenation. This prevented overflowing the old treatment facilities, but was not a good solution in the end. The main problem in older cities with combined systems is the flow and debris from streets and gutters (big volume, 100% runoff) and not the clean roof drainage (much lower volume) that does not represent a huge problem.

New non-complying connections are obviously not allowed. There is an effort to separate combined systems, but it is not always possible, prectical or desireable in every situation. It is strictly a local problem when it comes down to roof drains.

It is very important to visually identify all the connections if you want to determine any problems with the possiblity of problems with storm water causing a back-up.

helpless handyman

08-20-2007 08:45 AM

Okay guys, house was built in the 1940's. But I just noticed this the other day that the backyard drain is leading to the house drain stack. The backyard had grass at one time, and concrete was poured over the entire back yard, the drain is coming into the house, I can see the 4 inc pipe behind the boiler and it runs into my drain stack. I didn't install this, but I am wondering if this will cause a basement backup if we continue to get lots of rain. Also the gutters are attached to another pipe that leads to my drainage as well. I am in NYC and don't have septic system, but City sewer. Thanks

Ron The Plumber

08-20-2007 09:06 AM

I don't know the codes in NY, but here you can not have storm and waste water connected together.